(from “vital” – life-critical) – a normalized quantitative measure of a life-critical physiological parameter; a numerical characteristic of a specific type of condition critically important for sustaining life. Examples include concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide, glucose, and other indicators essential for survival. The value of a Vital ranges from 0% to 100% of its possible physiological range.
For instance: “Oxygen Vital – 82%” is intuitively clear even to a non-specialist.
Each Vital has threshold values; crossing these thresholds to any significant degree threatens life and necessitates restoration.
Vitals maintained within norm define a living entity, whereas fatal deviation from norm characterizes a non-living state. A Vital reflects the degree to which a parameter deviates from its adaptive norm, which itself depends on context (activity level, age, health status). The ensemble of Vitals determines the system’s viability: critical decline in any one may trigger transition to a non-living state.
A drop in oxygen from 95% to 85% may be tolerable, but from 60% to 50%—catastrophic. It may be useful to introduce a nonlinear scale or color-coded zones (green, yellow, red). 100% represents the optimal physiological value for a given state (rest, exertion, sleep, etc.).
Not all Vitals directly regulate the organism’s life-support systems. For example, the reproductive drive (gonadotropic behavior) ensures species survival rather than individual survival. Curiosity enhances adaptivity by discovering new opportunities, thus indirectly supporting life maintenance. Evolution may expand the Vital system if it confers advantage to the organism or species. Thus, parameters such as Altruism or Dissatisfaction with the status quo may emerge, functioning identically to direct life-support Vitals by fulfilling their own adaptive roles within the adaptive system.

– the system responsible for maintaining Vitals within norm. Unlike the term homeostasis, introduced by W. Cannon in 1932 (defined as the self-regulation enabling an open system to preserve internal constancy), Homeostat denotes the actual regulatory mechanism—not a vague “capacity”—that keeps life-critical parameters within context-dependent norms (e.g., varying by activity level or physiological state).
For example, a glucose level of 4 mmol/L may correspond to 100% at rest but only 60% during intense exertion.
The suffix -stat (from Greek statikos – “holding, stabilizing”) is used in terms like thermostat or hydrostat.
The term Homeostat was originally introduced by William Ross Ashby in 1948 to describe a physical device demonstrating principles of self-regulation and adaptation in cybernetic systems. Ashby called it a “homeostat” because it imitated the ability of living systems to maintain stability.

– the functioning of a Homeostat system. Cessation of this functioning equals death. Absence of a Homeostat indicates a non-living object.
For a Homeostat to function fully in maintaining Vitals, it requires a minimal set of behavioral styles suited to restoring specific life parameters: feeding, exploratory, defensive, and reproductive behaviors. These styles may activate singly or in combination (e.g., exploratory + feeding).
Thus, Life is defined as that which possesses a system for maintaining parameters of existential stability through at least the following adaptive behavioral styles: exploratory, feeding, defensive, aggressive, and replicative.
“Feeding behavior” does not necessarily mean glucose replenishment. For some entities, the feeding style regulates glucose; for others—kerosene; for others—battery charge levels.
Plants are also living organisms because they possess a Homeostat, though their regulation is limited to physiological and biochemical processes. For instance, they regulate water and mineral uptake, open/close stomata to control gas exchange and transpiration, and synthesize protective compounds in response to stress. Thus, context-specific responses exist, and plants fit the proposed definition of life—albeit representing a fundamentally different adaptive trajectory.

(from differentiator + significance + agentive suffix) – a mechanism that determines the magnitude of change in the organism’s state-significance following an action, i.e., the effectiveness of the action’s consequences.
The term “differentiator” here derives from the root meaning “difference” or “distinction.” State differentiation is the organism’s ability to discern changes in its internal condition. For example, the organism “notices” nausea after eating certain food and associates this state with the specific action (consuming that food).
This mechanism of adaptation and learning through experience is fundamental to survival and evolution in novel environments. It enables rapid adaptation—avoiding dangers and seeking beneficial conditions.
It is so essential, efficient, and universal that state-difference values are used both at the unconditioned-reflex level and at the psychic level for all ego-centric evaluations (i.e., assessments relative to changes in one’s own state)—except for evaluations based on arbitrarily chosen goals (e.g., self-sacrifice).
The organism continuously compares changes in its state. After any action (eating, physical activity, environmental interaction), every change is interpreted as a potential consequence of that action.
• If the change is positive (e.g., satiety), the organism “understands” the action is beneficial.
• If negative (e.g., pain or nausea), it “understands” the action is harmful.
This ability to distinguish and classify action outcomes makes the mechanism a powerful tool for adaptation.
Evolution has optimized the temporal window within which the organism links an action to its consequences, enabling efficient causal binding.
If a person falls ill hours after a meal, the body may associate the illness with that food. But if too much time passes (e.g., a day), the link weakens.
The mechanism also helps differentiate deviations from homeostatic baseline. For example.
• Elevated body temperature may be interpreted as resulting from infection or cold exposure.
• Hunger may be linked to prolonged food deprivation.
Thus, the organism “differentiates” its current state relative to the norm and seeks causes for these deviations.
The mechanism enables the organism to distinguish which actions or stimuli caused state changes—critical for learning and adaptation.
For instance, if a person develops a headache after drinking alcohol, they may “differentiate” this state as resulting from that specific action.
The organism not only detects changes but also classifies them as positive, negative, or neutral—guiding decisions about whether to repeat or avoid the action.
Pleasure from sweet food is classified as positive; pain from a burn—as negative.
Sharp changes in organismic state act as actual stimuli, triggering recruitment of the priority attention channel.
fornit.ru/7033.

– a quantitative measure of the adaptive value of any image (parameter, Vital, action, event, thought, or any image type), reflecting its contribution to homeostatic regulation.
• Positive significance signals normalization of Vitals, guiding the vector of survival and adaptation.
• Negative significance ultimately threatens Vital stability and reduces adaptivity.
Positivity indicates the degree of success in homeostatic regulation associated with that image; negativity indicates the degree of state deterioration.
Just as a school grade from 1 to 5 suffices to reflect performance, Significance requires no high-precision scale—a range from –10 to +10 is fully adequate. The scale is nonlinear: small values are most informative for response selection, while values near the maximum become increasingly compressed, with +10 representing an asymptotic limit of value growth.
This is an extremely simple yet deeply functional metric that unifies evaluation of everything—from physiological parameters to abstract images—within a single priority scale governed by the Egostat.
Significance scale: –10 to +10. This unifies all experience—physiology, emotions, thoughts, actions—into one evaluative framework.
fornit.ru/66643, fornit.ru/7001.

Image – a functional structure designed to recognize a unique combination of input states. Each Image has its own uniqueness, expressible as a numeric identifier (ID), enabling system-wide addressing. In biological organisms, the analog is a synaptic ID.
Images in the Homeostat system come in various types: perceptual images (all sensory modalities), homeostatic state images (Vitals), action images, mental images (abstractions), etc.
Significance is itself a type of Image. Its ID specifies which aspect of the Homeostat system it evaluates.
This eliminates the dualism of “perception–action–value”: all are Images, differing only in input types and systemic functions. This enables hierarchical and recursive modeling—Images can embed other Images (e.g., the Apple Image = shape + color + smell + taste + Significance). It also makes the system addressable and controllable: via ID, any Image can be tracked, modified, amplified, or suppressed.
Thus, Significance is not “glued” to an Image but is a separate Image linked via ID. This allows.
• Dynamic revaluation without altering the Image itself (e.g., water = neutral; water = +9 when thirsty).
• History tracking (water had Significance +5 yesterday, +9 today).
• Learning.
• Reflex formation based on Image–Significance pairings.
• Avoidance of “hard binding”—Significance can be temporary, contextual, or conditional.

fornit.ru/7078.

(from Greek dendron = “tree,” plus -arch suffix denoting hierarchy, governance, or structure—as in hierarch, patriarch, anarch) – a tree-like structure in which Images are organized by hierarchical complexity: from simplest primitives to complex integrative Images, with contexts formed at each level.
Example: Bad > Fear > Night > Shadow > Humanoid figure > Grandmother Image.
Tree structures are natural and efficient for retrieval and hierarchical representation: earlier nodes function as categories, later nodes as category members. Moreover, with a fixed number of hierarchy levels (i.e., all branches ultimately have the same node count), the tree enables clear novelty detection when a branch is incompletely recognized—offering significant advantages over other hierarchical organization methods.
Starting from unimodal perceptual primitives, each new level integrates increasingly complex feature combinations, with terminal nodes unifying all sensory modalities into a single final Image. The number of such levels can be evolutionarily optimized—six may suffice. More levels allow more intermediate categories but slower image complexity growth, creating transitional states.
This applies not only to perceptual Images but also, for example, to Historical Memory structure and other hierarchical systems.
fornit.ru/6679.

– a basic behavioral mode (feeding, reproductive, exploratory, defensive, etc.) that constrains possible reactions and within which new, ontogenetically acquired responses develop to achieve the homeostatic goals of that style. Basic styles are activated by an innate mechanism that optimally selects a group of styles based on current Vital states. Thus, basic behavioral styles serve as primary contexts determining reactions (i.e., base contexts).
Emotions – abstract reflections of behavioral styles. Emotions are Images representing combinations of active basic behavioral styles, establishing a motivational context for homeostatic goals and thereby forming the broadest objective of awareness: to generate a novel reaction alternative to habitual responses under current conditions, incorporating the novelty component.
Many theoretical models attribute to emotions properties beyond basic contexts—endowing them with complex “human” qualities. However, careful comparison of behavioral data, starting from behavioral styles, shows that emotions are simply Images corresponding to active behavioral style combinations—nothing more. More complex regulation occurs within their context.
fornit.ru/68571

– abstract reflections of behavioral styles. Emotions are Images representing combinations of active basic behavioral styles, establishing a motivational context for homeostatic goals and thereby forming the broadest objective of awareness: to generate a novel reaction alternative to habitual responses under current conditions, incorporating the novelty component.
Many theoretical models attribute to emotions properties beyond basic contexts—endowing them with complex “human” qualities. However, careful comparison of behavioral data, starting from behavioral styles, shows that emotions are simply Images corresponding to active behavioral style combinations—nothing more. More complex regulation occurs within their context.
fornit.ru/70312

– a homeostatic regulatory system maintaining a set of life-critical parameters within norm to prevent death. This necessity arises from natural selection: organisms with Homeostat flaws are eliminated from competition. Such flaws may include fatal actions.
Here, “Ego” does not denote the philosophical “Self,” but the functional center of survival priorities—ego-centricity.
The imperative to maintain Vitals in norm leads to the concept of ego-centric Significance: everything relevant to the individual’s adaptive functionality is evaluated through this lens. This is the core of motivation, value, attention, behavior—and even consciousness.
The term Egostat explicitly reflects the ego-centric nature of the system: everything important to “me” is determined by it. This emphasizes that value (Significance) originates in survival—not in an abstract “soul” or “reason.” It is a Homeostat that generates ego-centric Significance for all that supports survival.

Novelty – a characteristic of an Image reflecting the degree to which it has not yet participated in the Egostat’s current psychic-level adaptive regulation. At the reflex level, there is no Novelty, because all reflexes are triggered only within specific contextual conditions and do not require identification of new stimuli within known combinations (including ancient reflexes to loud, bright, or foul stimuli that may shift behavioral style).
Detection of significant Novelty is necessary to attract attention, as such Novelty renders conditions uncertain for existing reflex execution and may signal danger (most often) or opportunity.
Negative Significance detection is more critical for survival than positive, reflected in the brain’s disproportionately larger neural substrates for negative valuation versus reward centers. A habitual reflex in novel conditions may yield unexpected consequences. Hence, a vast portion of higher animal brains is dedicated to processing significant Novelty. Negative Significance is detected with higher priority—an evolutionary imperative: avoiding death is more urgent than gaining benefit.
Novelty lacking sufficient Significance, or with undetermined Significance, does not attract attention (it is simply unnoticed)—just as Significance with zero Novelty (i.e., well-learned conditions requiring no reinterpretation) goes unattended. This aligns with the formula for attracting conscious attention.
Image Actuality = Novelty ? Significance.
Note: Novelty ? Unexpectedness. Unexpectedness can be reflexive (flash > blink), whereas Novelty applies only to what requires conscious reinterpretation.
Novelty is a “blank spot” on the adaptive world map—a signal that the model must be updated.

(from “orienting” + Latin -ans, -antis = “acting, exhibiting a trait”) – the current Image (sensory or mental) in the focus of the priority attention channel at a given moment, i.e., the Image with the highest Novelty ? Significance product. The priority attention channel for interpreting novelty is singular: at any moment, it can process only one Image—the most actual among all active ones.
The Orientant triggers the orienting reflex—an innate program for reorienting attention and sensory resources toward a source of uncertainty or threat.
Images monitored for priority attention include both perceptual and mental Images from the interpretation process. Thus, the priority attention channel can switch from external to a more actual mental Image. Moreover, when deeply engaged in important interpretation, the channel raises its switching threshold to prevent distraction—but maintains a “sentinel mode” that still allows interruption by a highly actual new Image.

(from attention) – the link between awareness processes and sensory perception or mental activity. Awareness mechanisms have evolved into a vast hierarchical system for increasingly deep and efficient processing of the actual stimulus.
According to A. Ivanitsky’s model, sustained stimuli in hippocampal feedback loops connect to the frontal lobes, with the orienting reflex selecting the most actual Image from all candidates. However, the frontal cortex also contains multiple reverberating loops—only one serves as the main awareness iteration, while others are interrupted or completed interpretation cycles (the unconscious). Within one such loop, ongoing processing may reveal extreme Significance—even if the stimulus was already in the priority channel—making this mental actuality itself an Orientant that captures attention. This is known as insight or illumination: a previously unconscious cycle becomes the main one and enters awareness.

– an unconscious program of response (external or mental) within specific contextual conditions. This aligns with I. Sechenov’s definition: “A standard responsive reaction of the organism to external influence, mediated by the nervous system,” but clarifies the role of context and emphasizes that reflexes are not part of awareness, though the mechanisms of awareness themselves are innate reflexes.
Sechenov wrote: “All acts of conscious and unconscious life, by their mode of origin, are reflexes.” However, some adaptive mechanisms respond not only to external (or internal sensory) inputs but are activated by a specific structure of informedness (B. Baars fornit.ru/70033, G. Tononi fornit.ru/70040, D. Dubrovsky fornit.ru/70862)—a context that guides the direction of awareness, just as external context guides reflex selection. Such mechanisms are not reflexes but serve to form new reflexes for novel contextual components.
A reflex is triggered by a unique combination of perceptual features (recognized by a context Image). It may be.
• Innate (genetically predetermined).
• A synonym of an existing reflex (triggered by a new contextual component), o.
• Arbitrarily formed during awareness.
All Sechenov-style acts (stimulus–response in context) are reflexes—but only after they are formed. The formation process itself is not a reflex but a meta-process. In innate reflexes, this is genetic predisposition realized during ontogenetic maturation. In novel ontogenetic reflexes, it involves forming new connections (e.g., with perceptual primitives, repeated stimuli, or cerebellar circuits) or constructing responses via awareness processes.
fornit.ru/art.

– genetically predetermined connections that become functional after structural maturation during a specific developmental window (critical period for functional specialization). This term replaces the outdated “unconditioned reflex,” since all reflexes operate within specific conditions.
A Genoreflex may represent a complex action sequence achieving a homeostatic goal (instinct). Such chains are triggered depending on contextual specifics, so instinctive behavior consists of context-branching action chains. The term “instinct” is thus redundant and ambiguous—it doesn’t matter whether a chain contains 1 or 100 motor acts; all chains are always triggered by unique contextual combinations. Therefore, the term Genoreflex suffices. Behavior “branches” not because it’s “instinct,” but because each subsequent act is itself a Genoreflex triggered by a new perceptual feature combination.

– a clone of an existing reflex that begins responding to a new contextual component, thereby expanding reactivity to new trigger stimuli. This replaces the outdated “conditioned reflex,” since the word “conditioned” is superfluous: all reflexes operate within specific contextual conditions.
A CloneReflex copies another reflex’s response but has its own structure (not just new connections), enabling extinction (to prevent random associations with transient stimuli; unused links weaken, keeping responses aligned with current relevance).
CloneReflexes require no reinforcement during formation—only a few repetitions of the new stimulus slightly preceding the old one (though intervals can be long, e.g., 24 hours; the link strengthens with repetition until fully established). This may seem counterintuitive: in I.P. Pavlov’s classic textbook experiment, the conditioned reflex formed only when the bell was followed by food. In reality, without food, no reflexive response occurs to the second stimulus, so there’s nothing to clone onto the new one. Consider another example: a conditioned reflex forms if touching a water bowl delivers an electric shock. The dog exhibits an unconditioned withdrawal reflex to the shock; after several pairings, the bowl image alone triggers withdrawal. This is called “negative reinforcement,” though withdrawal is simply a reflexive response to shock.
Reinforcement (food, shock) is not the cause of linkage but merely a means to elicit a reflexive response that can then be cloned.
A CloneReflex forms when a new (neutral) stimulus repeatedly precedes an old stimulus that already evokes a reflexive response. The brain copies (clones) the response structure from the old to the new stimulus—not because it’s “rewarding” or “punishing,” but because the new stimulus becomes a predictor of the old, and the response is shifted forward in time to enhance adaptivity.

OptReflex (from “optimization” + “reflex”) – forms to support the fine-tuning of a newly developing ontogenetic reflex, optimizing force, coordination, and integration with concurrent actions. Without such reflexes, forming a new reflex would require numerous supplementary reflexes, greatly prolonging optimization (as seen in cerebellar pathologies). The cerebellum receives information about the reaction’s goal and forms reflexes ensuring its efficient achievement during new reflex execution.
These are second-order reflexes that “tune” primary reflexes to current conditions, ensuring goals are met efficiently, without excess energy expenditure or conflict with other actions.

(from Greek nous = “mind, intellect”) – a reflex formed by the priority attention system during awareness for a specific combination of conditions (organism state, sensory input, and actual trigger stimulus). A new automatism may reuse an existing response program or modify part of its sequence to achieve the goal under new conditions. The original action chain may be an innate reaction.
During awareness of an actual stimulus, the reaction chain can be paused at any link to either.
• Continue with a different chain to achieve the goal in new conditions.
• Optimize the link via cerebellar reflexes through targeted practice, o.
• Construct an entirely new action chain from elementary action Images.
Example: musical instrument skill—initially each movement is consciously controlled; later, a NoReflex forms, enabling “automatic” playing while preserving expressiveness aligned with emotion and audience.
fornit.ru/7016.

– an innate mechanism selecting the most actual stimulus from all active perceptual (and mental) Images. It ensures.
1. Retention of the actual stimulus in a hippocampal feedback loop, an.
2. Connection to the frontal lobes for awareness via the priority attention channel, updating the global informedness picture.
If a mental Image is most actual, it does not create a new hippocampal reverberation but instead organizes the main interpretation cycle in the frontal cortex, relegating others to the background (the insight phenomenon). Thus, the original perceptual stimulus remains held in the hippocampus (preserving working memory), while awareness may shift through several more actual mental Images, each updating the informedness picture—which serves as context for the next interpretation step.
I.P. Pavlov described an animal’s reaction to a novel, sudden stimulus as the “What is it?” reflex or Orienting Reflex.

– a working memory structure of the current interpretation state, containing slots for preserving current information elements.
Informedness activity creates the context for selecting the next interpretation step, which in turn updates informedness for the subsequent step.
Slot composition is evolutionarily optimized and may differ not only across species but also among individuals, forming the potential for varied interpretation capabilities.
Preceding theories: B. Baars, G. Tononi, D. Dubrovsky.
.
fornit.ru/6854.

– Images of any type linked to their ego-centric Significance within the current awareness process.
Here, “information” does not mean.
• bits (cybernetics).
• entropy/order (physics).
• legal/media “data,” o.
• a mystical universal essence.
Instead, it refers to Images linked to ego-centric Significance, informing about some aspect of current awareness.
Data alone are always conditional knowledge (personal informedness) and thus accessible only to those who understand the conditional symbols of informedness. A cat seeing a book gains no information—it has no subjective Significance. All elements (significant Images) of the global info-picture constitute holistic situational understanding.
For an Image’s Significance to inform the subject, it must be brought into conscious attention. Outside the single actual-stimulus processing channel, there is no informedness—equivalent to awareness, since informedness is possible only through stimulus awareness.
The Significances of individual Images contributing to the global info-picture serve as elementary components of informedness (quanta of consciousness). Together, they create the conscious context of the current situation and interpretation stage—i.e., the subjective experience that evolves with each interpretation step.
fornit.ru/6883.

(итерация осознания) - последовательность шагов, в ходе которых информация обрабатывается и интерпретируется. Процессы обработки актуальных стимулов в системе сознания, которые включают удержание информации в памяти и её анализ для принятия решений. fornit.ru/68516

(iteration of awareness) – a sequence of steps in which information is processed and interpreted. These are the actual-stimulus processing mechanisms of the awareness system, involving information retention in memory and analysis for decision-making. fornit.ru/69385

– innate structures specialized in retrieving information in response to mental queries from the Awareness Function Dispatcher. These may include mechanisms for.
• retrieving data from Historical Memory.
• comparison and generalization.
• selection by Significance criteria, etc.
Each interpretation step invokes an Infofunction, whose output updates the Infocontext for the next step.
fornit.ru/68522

– a structure representing a unique mental Image (by ID), linked to Significance within a specific context. It is a quantum of consciousness. Abstractions are universal: the same abstraction (e.g., One or Good) evokes identical understanding across all minds.
Unlike rigidly recognized Images, abstractions permit arbitrary operations.
fornit.ru/7101.

– an Abstraction representing a desired action outcome, i.e., an Image with assigned Significance for the result of actions to be achieved. fornit.ru/6788.

– activity of the voluntary attention channel, comprising interpretation cycles: the main (experienced, updating the “movie frame”) and background cycles (unconscious). fornit.ru/68364

– the main iteration of the awareness cycle: the process of resolving the alternativity to habitual responses under novel conditions, thereby updating the Infocontext. fornit.ru/68516

– a deep, sequential series of interpretation steps (iterations) refining informedness to solve a goal-directed problem or engage in passive fantasy. If no solution is found at evolutionarily earlier interpretation levels, the process deepens to a more flexible level, accompanied by specific mental experiences of problem-solving stages.

– the ensemble of active but non-main processing cycles in the frontal cortex. Not “repressed,” but “lacking access to Aten.” The source of insights. fornit.ru/68713

– the strength, clarity, and intensity of current informedness experience. Not “attentiveness,” but a measure of the depth and efficiency of the awareness process. fornit.ru/71034

– anything that is alternative to habitual (reflexive) responses under given conditions. The foundation of psyche as a “system of voluntary-level adaptivity. fornit.ru/art11

– the conscious evaluation of an Image’s Significance, enabling definite orientation toward it (avoidance or pursuit). fornit.ru/66643

Semantory – the system of an Image’s Significances across all evaluated contexts, linked to memory of specific rules stored as experiential records in Historical Memory. Enables instant Image interpretation upon activation. Infofunctions can compare and generalize Semantory data to evaluate properties and meaning of attentional objects. fornit.ru/69260

– the combined semantic and episodic memory, forming sequential “frames” of interpretation moments for later retrieval by Infofunctions. fornit.ru/art8

– memory of a problem state that could not be resolved during an awareness cycle and, due to its Significance, is deferred for future resolution. During subsequent awareness cycles, the Dominanta’s stored information is compared with current data, potentially enabling analogical solution accompanied by insight. In psychology, this phenomenon is described as a Gestalt. fornit.ru/6850.